Back to School Tips for Retailers

Ready or not, back to school season is in full swing. 37% of families have sucked it up and started shopping for pencils, crayons, shoes, and all those other school essentials. The other 63% are likely to start shopping this weekend, especially if they live on the East Coast or in the deep South, since the majority of the seventeen states that offer sales tax holidays for back to school are giving shoppers a break from August 1-3.

We know that the back to school season is second only to Black Friday-Christmas for many marketers. The experts at the National Retail Federation (NRF) predict that the typical family with kids attending kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, or high school will spend $669.28 this year, up 5% from last year. Total back to school spending is estimated to hit $26.5 billion in 2014. That’s Billion with a B, as in back to school is big business.

Now that we’ve established that back to school shopping is a ginormous opportunity, let’s take a look at some of the trends that are being predicted for back to school 2014 and see how we can make them actionable.

Tip #1: Offer discounts online and on mobile purchases.

In recent years, omnichannel retail has been gaining ground, and we’re seeing that same trend among back to school shoppers. Check out these numbers.

• Over 33% of back to school shoppers plan to do at least some of their shopping online this year.


• 19.6% are shopping online to save money, which means they’re seeking out sales and discounts.


• 36.7% of back to school shoppers with smart phones are going to use them to do a little research before they buy, a record high according to the NRF who has been surveying shoppers about their smartphone usage and purchases since 2011.


• 21.8% will use their smartphone to make a purchase (another new record)


• 31.4% will buy back to school supplies using their tablet

The takeaway here? If you’re only offering student discounts in-store, you’re missing a big opportunity. It’s important to put your best foot forward online and on mobile, and to make it simple and convenient for your customers to make a purchase whenever and wherever they want.

Tip #2: Don’t just target parents.

K-12 students are planning on spending $913 million of their own cash money on school supplies. That’s a pretty good chunk of change. If you add it to the amount that college students and incoming frosh plan to spend, millennials are expected to shell out $74.9 billion of their own moola. Even those who aren’t opening up their own wallets, are heavily influencing where their parents shop and what they buy. Most parents (34.8%) admit that their kids call the shots on at least half of their back to school purchases. 12.4% of the parents who are dealing with teenagers let their kids make 100% of the purchasing decisions for back to school. I remember my mom let me pick whether I wanted the Trapper Keeper with the kitten on the front or the unicorn, but back to school shoppers these days have higher ticket items on their shopping lists. In addition to pencils, notebooks, and whatever the modern day equivalent of a Trapper Keeper is, they’re also going to spend an average of $212.35 on electronics, which will add up to $8.4 billion spent on computers, tablets, phones, and more during the back to school season. Your marketing plan needs to include ads and social media campaigns that will reach teenage trendsetters and the early adopters in the K-8 set.

Tip #3: Don’t forget about college students.

While the amount of money families with students in grades K-12 are spending may seem mind boggling, college students spend even more. The average college student and their parents are going to spend 37% more than those who aren’t headed off to campus yet. That’s $916.48 spent on dorm furniture, bedding, school supplies, laptops, smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and more, up 10 percent from last year. Total college spending is predicted to hit $48.4 billion for back to campus 2014.

In tip #1 (offer discounts online and on mobile purchases), we relayed the importance of omnichannel. Now we’re going to say it again, because if you’re trying to reach college students, it’s even more critical. You need to make it easy, quick, and convenient for your customers to find your discounts or sales online or on their phone and make a transaction. These shoppers aren’t just book smart, almost half of them check retailer’s web site for special promotions. If they like what they see, they’ll make a purchase right then and there. 22.4% plan to purchase items on their smart phone and 54.5% of those who own a tablet will use it for their back to campus purchases. If you’re asking college students to go to a store in-person, fax in ID, or jump through hoops to get a student discount, you’re likely to lose the sale.

So there we have it. Three tips to maximize your back to school campaigns based on hard data and expert predictions. You don’t have to give us credit when you pitch these ideas to your boss, we don’t mind. Just give us a call if you need help keeping those online college student discounts exclusive and preventing fraud.

Back to School Tips for Retailers